Several years ago the FNH USA, the US-based subsidiary to famous Belgian armsmaker FN Herstal, decided to develop the new sniper rifle for Law Enforcementuse. Designated as a Special Police Rifle (SPR), new bolt action rifle was basedon the Winchester model 70 Classic (also known as pre-64) action with Mauser-stylebolt and extractor with controlled feed. The heavy barrels were made fromM240/FN MAG machine gun barrel blanks, with chrome plated bores. Barreledactions were mounted into H-S Precision polymer rifle stocks. Soon afterintroduction the production had been stopped, as some defects were found in thedesign. Most notably, some rifles shot not as well as they were supposed to. FNdesigners analyzed the faults, and re-started the SPR design in the muchimproved and better form. At the present time these FN SPR rifles aremanufactured at the US Repeating Arms Co (USRAC), the subsidiary of the FNHerstal and the manufacturer of the famous Winchester brand rifles.

At the present time, US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officially adoptedthe FN SPR rifle for its sniper teams.

AllFN SPR rifles are based on the same so-called pre-64 Winchester 70 actions.These actions feature round receivers and a rotating bolts with dual front lugs.Non-rotating Mauser-type claw extractor and fixed blade ejector providecontrolled and reliable feeding, extraction and ejection. Specially madematch-grade barrels have chromium-plated bores. Standard barrel length is24" (610mm), but there are two minor modifications with shorter 20"barrels, A1a and A5a. For LE and Military use SPR rifles are available withthreaded barrels which can accept tactical suppressors (silencers). Rifles arefed using either detachable box magazines or integral magazines with swing-outfloorplates (.300WSM versions available only with integral magazines). Threepositions Winchester 70 type safety allows the bolt to be operated with safetyon.

The key difference between versions is in the type of the stock andin the accessories, provided in the standard package. All rifles use polymerstocks made by McMillan. Accuracy for all SPR rifles is claimed to be sub-MOAwith proper choice of ammunition. The 7.62NATO/.308 versions have effectiverange of about 700-800 meters, while .300WSM versions stretch the margin up to(and maybe beyond) 1000 meters.